Thursday, October 17, 2013

Best Grilled Salmon

You'll need some serious smoke for this one!

It’s
been mentioned in this blog a few times that we enjoy salmon. And why not? We
are lucky enough to live in a place where salmon has been a staple for
thousands of years. To be perfectly honest, however, we have had some epic
salmon recipe failures.Salmon
spaghetti sauce immediately comes to mind. Granted, we only tried it once, but
the results were so unappealing as to render a second attempt out of the
question. I am certain that someone, somewhere has managed to pull that one
off, but not in the Poynor house.Simply
because the kids could pick the salmon out of it, salmon Alfredo was a good
dinner recipe. Unfortunately, a lighter breakfast version we called “Cream
Chipped Salmon Over Toast” was a total reject. Actually, it was sort of an
opportunity missed to promote the healthy consumption of vegetables.“Okay,
kids, what’s it going to be, cream chipped salmon on toast, or broccoli?”Another
experiment that went awry was salmon enchiladas. Salmon tacos are good, so we
naturally assumed we could expand the Mexican buffet. The salmon gets a little
lost in the translation. That being said, our persistence in finding suitable
Mexican pairings for salmon paid off in the form of grilled salmon and mango
salsa.

Since
the readers of this blog seem to like salmon recipes, as evidenced by the
number of hits the pickled salmon recipe gets daily, I’m offering up this
favorite way of ours to grill and serve salmon. This recipe is for two, eight-ounce
servings of fish.

This is all you need for the salmon part.

Start
off making the mango salsa to give the flavors a chance to blend while cooking
the salmon. (By the way, we double the salsa, as it would be good even served
on an asphalt shingle.)

Mango
salsa: 1 ripe, peeled and diced mango; 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper; 1
- 2 chopped green onions (scallions); 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, more or less,
depending on how much you like the flavor (cilantro is also called coriander,
or Chinese parsley); 1 - 2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped;
the juice of 1 fresh lime (or two tablespoons of bottled lime juice); 1
tablespoon of bottled lemon juice. That’s it, just mix it all together in a
bowl, cover it and let the flavors mix while the salmon is prepped and cooked.In
my opinion, the reason this grilled salmon works so well is the lack of direct seasoning on the salmon.
The finished product has nothing but the pure, smoky flavor of the fish, which
is beautifully enhanced by the salsa. We cook filets, but if you cook fish that
has been cut in steaks, skip the part about removing the skin. (For everybody,
only use wild-caught salmon, preferably Alaskan. Remember: friends don’t let
friends eat farmed salmon.)This
method requires a heavy smoke for the fish. Apple wood chips are what I prefer,
but any sweet smoking wood is acceptable. Soak at least a cup of chips in hot
water for about ten minutes while prepping the salmon, then drain the chips.

Start out skin side down.

Prepare one pound of salmon
by salting the flesh side liberally. Allow the salt to work into the flesh for
several minutes, or massage it in, then lightly rub olive oil over the flesh.
The olive oil helps to seal in the juices, preventing the most common complaint
about grilled salmon - fish that is too dry. (Please note, however, no amount
of olive oil will keep overcooked fish moist.)To
remove the skin, place the fish in a fish basket, or grill basket, with the
skin side up for easy access. Put the basket on the grill, skin side down,
close to the coals. (For you propane grill folks, I’m guessing the high setting
would be what you want.) DON’T WALK AWAY!! This only takes four
minutes, or less. Monitor the fish filet, and when the skin starts to bubble
and pucker a bit around the edges, move the fish to one side of the fire.
Remove the skin by simply peeling it off. Inserting a fork tine just under the
skin and turning the fork works quite well. The skin side of the fish is now
cooked.

A fork can be used to twist the skin off.

(Okay,
you guys with the salmon steaks can jump back into the fun now.)Finish
up by cooking with indirect heat. With the fish off to the side of the coals, establish
a smoky fire by lowering the coals, closing the lower vents on the grill,
sprinkling most of the wood chips on the coals, and closing the lid on the
grill. Propane folks, same deal: off to the side, get some serious smoke going,
close up the grill.

Smoky indirect heat is the key.

Fish steak people, this is your cooking moment in the sun.
Cook and smoke the fish, depending on the thickness, for 15 to 20 minutes. Add
more wood chips if needed to keep the smoke going. Test fish by using a fork to
see if the flesh flakes easily. If it does, the fish is done, don’t overcook
it.

Pull
the fish from the grill, portion and serve by covering with the salsa. When we grill
fish like this, it’s all that’s on the plate. I don’t know what more you could
want… except maybe an asphalt shingle for the extra salsa.